Author: The Crusader Newspaper Advisor Erin Jensen We hope you have enjoyed reading the school newspaper over the last several years. I have been the faculty advisor since 2019 and we have published at least one edition every semester since then.  I usually spend a lot of time each semester encouraging articles to be written, editing the articles, formatting the articles, and then creating the layout of the newspaper. I have appreciated the various student editors that have helped with this process every semester. Thanks for all the help this semester from Regina Vehige and last semester from Jose Hernandez.  The newspaper is going to be changing its format starting Fall 2023. Instead of the articles being compiled into a pdf (like this one), articles will now be individually published on the newspaper website https://belmontabbeycollege.edu/campus-life/clubs-organizations/crusader/ Students interested in writing for the school newspaper can still register for EN 199 (Newspaper Production) and have the opportunity to be a staff writer. The class is offered every semester as an online asynchronous class and counts for the Writing minor.  We hope you continue to read and support Abbey students as they write news and feature articles. This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Frankee Hendricks On March 28th, 2023, the Belmont Abbey women’s tennis team went to Leas McRae University for a ten and a half hour marathon match. The women’s team started playing outdoors, but within ten minutes, the rain came and wiped out the courts for the day. The matches were then moved indoors to the indoor courts. The women got one court, and the men got one. Eight matches were played on the court from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. The women’s team lost the doubles point in a close match with a tiebreak at number one doubles, 6-7 (2-7). The number two doubles team won 6-4 and number three lost 0-6.  Moving onto singles, Frankee Hendricks played a three-hour match against Mei Hiramatsu. Hendricks won 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (6-8), and 10-7. Following her, Alexis Burkhalter and Lily Aranyos also won their matches. Burkhalter played position four and won 6-3, 7-5. Aranyos played position five and won 6-2, 1-6, 10-5.  Elizabeth Vollmin, Elliot Peterson, and Kaitlin Nguyen all fell short, putting the final score at 4-3 for Leas McCrae. That might just be the longest match in women’s tennis history, with the departure time being 7:45 a.m. and the team not getting back until 1:15 a.m. Being a part of the Belmont Abbey Women’s Tennis Team has been an incredible experience. I am finishing up my sophomore season, and I am looking forward to the years ahead! This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Madison Jones The Belmont Abbey Track and Field team has competed in five meets this outdoor season, including the GottaRun Invite hosted by Southern Wesleyan on Saturday April 2, 2023. The Crusaders had athletes competing in almost every event and eleven athletes reached the Conference Carolina Championship standard to qualify to compete. The team is led by Head Coach Dan Finanger, assisted by Coach Aimee Cerdeiras, Tomas Cerdeiras, and James Thierfelder (who broke three school records).  Ryan Kohlhagen (Senior) broke the 110-meter hurdles record with a time of 15.23. Thomas Thierfelder (Senior) broke the 800-meter record with a time of 1:54.81. The women’s 4×100 meter relay team set a new school record with a time of 48.35, the relay members include Sekyah Chestnut (Junior), Olivia White (Sophomore), Cristina Villanueva (Senior), and Isabelle Flores (Sophomore). The Crusaders also competed at a meet at Lenoir Rhyne University and Anderson University on April 15.  The last meet of the Crusaders season will be the Conference Carolina Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet which is the weekend of April 29-30th, this meet will be held in Myrtle Beach South Carolina and will be hosted over a Sunday and Monday. This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Frederick Tuttle The Belmont Abbey men’s tennis program has really improved over the past years. The team is a pretty large team for a college tennis team with around 40 guys on the roster. Last year the team had a great season and ended up becoming the regular season champion for the conference. The team ended up winning the Conference tournament and became the 2022 conference champions. The men’s tennis team just recently had their senior day. There are 10 seniors graduating this year. For some of the seniors it was their last college tennis matches for the team. All of the seniors had great last matches and ended their careers with some big wins. This was an emotional day for the team because this senior class was something special and they all will be deeply missed. The Abbey Tennis team is led by their coach Michael Salomon who is a huge part of all of the team’s accomplishments. He pushes the players on the team every day to become better players on the court and better people in the real world. The team is getting prepared for the conference tournament and are prepared to bring their best tennis. One of the team’s top players Charlie Fremaux says this about the coming up conference tournament “If we go out there and play how we are supposed to we will have a great chance of winning the conference tournament.” The team has an incredible chance of winning back-to-back years and becoming 2023 conference champions. This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Charlie Fremaux The Men’s Tennis team won their second straight Conference Carolinas title. The men now travel to Georgia to face Columbus State University in their first round of regionals, which is scheduled to be played at 9 AM on Friday. The women’s team won their quarterfinal match on Friday to Barton College, though the ladies fell next round to the Erskine Flying Fleet.  Looking for an exciting way to support Crusader athletics on the road? The Belmont Abbey men’s and women’s tennis teams are heading to Florence, South Carolina this weekend for the 2023 Conference Carolinas Tennis Championships. This tournament is held at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center from Friday, April 21st and Sunday, April 23rd.  Both the men’s and women’s teams wrapped up their regular seasons this weekend with conference wins over Barton College at home on Saturday, completing a six match win streak against conference opponents for both programs. These wins were crucial in providing the teams with optimal seeding in the tournament, giving the women the fourth seed and a first round bye and men the second seed and an automatic bid into the semifinals. Nelson Stafford, a senior on the men’s team, shared his confidence on the team’s ability to succeed in the tournament during an interview, saying, “I believe we have strong momentum heading into the tournament. Acquiring the second seed position in the draw allows us to play two less matches to win the title.” Many members of the Abbey tennis team feel the same and are looking forward to the opportunity to return home as conference champions. This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer The men’s college club triathlon competed at the USAT Collegiate Club Nationals in Georgia this month. For three of the participants, this was their first triathlon experience. The team members were Nathan Gallman, David Wilson, Tommy Baird, and Nik von Spakovsky.  Coach Alyssa Clay had this to say about the experience: “I am extremely proud of how well my student-athletes performed. They each exceeded my expectations. We started the season not knowing if we would even get to race, but that did not stop them from diligently showing up to all those early morning practices and putting in the hard work. It all paid off, and for those who will be around next year, I look forward to watching them continue to grow as athletes, as students, as individuals, and as a team.”  Coach Clay is currently recruiting for both the men’s and women’s teams. If you have some experience in swimming, cycling, or running and have a desire to be on the triathlon team, she is interested in meeting you. Please email her at alyssaclay@bac.edu for more information.  This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.